The distinguished career of Texas-born Ralph Kirshbaum encompasses the worlds of solo performance, chamber music and recording and clearly places him in "...the highest echelon of today's cellists." (Los Angeles Times). He enjoys the affection and respect not only of audiences world-wide but also of his many eminent colleagues.
Over the years, Ralph Kirshbaum has appeared with most of the world's great orchestras and conductors. These have included Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Mehta), Cleveland Orchestra (Dohnanyi), San Francisco Symphony (Blomstedt), Boston Symphony (Previn), Pittsburgh Symphony (Lutoslawski), London Symphony (Sir Colin Davis), Philharmonia (Slatkin), BBC Symphony (Andrew Davis), the Orchestre de Paris (Bychkov) and, most recently, the Israel Philharmonic (Masur), together with major orchestras in Holland, Germany, Spain, Scandinavia and the Far East in repertoire ranging from Haydn and Dvorak to Prokofiev and Lutoslawski. Last year he appeared in a five-concert series with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and James Levine and in October he returned to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Later that month, he was guest soloist with the Malaysian Philharmonic. He returns for a 10th tour of Australia in April 2008.
Mr. Kirshbaum's 07-08 season commences with appearances at Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society in New York. His orchestral engagements include the Dallas Symphony with Tortelier (Elgar), the Montreal Symphony with Janowski (Schumann), the Oregon Symphony with Gregory Vajda (Haydn), the San Antonio Symphony with Douglas Boyd (Dvorak), and the Yale Philharmonia with Shinik Hahm (Elgar). A special love for the Elgar Concerto dates from his memorable televised performance with Sir Charles Groves at the Jubilee Proms in 1977. Of a performance with the Boston Symphony, Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe wrote: "His playing of this noble music of regret and farewell is subtle, intense, piercingly sad and absolutely spellbinding." Of his 1991 BBC Proms performance with Libor Pesek and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic The Times wrote of the "...poetry flowing freely from the artist's imagination."
Mr. Kirshbaum's fiftieth birthday celebrations included a gala concert at London's Wigmore Hall followed by a solo recital in which he performed three Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. Later in the month celebrations continued with a chamber music concert with Pinchas Zukerman, Gyorgy Pauk and Peter Frankl in the Barbican Centre and culminated in performances of the Dvorak Concerto and Brahms Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.
In 1988, he founded and became Artistic Director of the RNCM Manchester International Cello Festival. The triennial festival gathered together his many friends amongst the world's great cellists in a celebration of the cello, its music and musicians. The last and final festival took place from 2nd - 6th May, 2007. Entitled "From Britten to Britain" this festival featured 36 cellists from 20 different countries. He also serves as honorary president of the Violoncello Society of London.
Each year Ralph Kirshbaum appears at several of the prestigious international festivals which have included Edinburgh, Bath, Verbier, Lucerne, Aspen, La Jolla, Santa Fe, Music@Menlo, Ravinia and New York's Mostly Mozart.
Ralph Kirshbaum continues to delight in the pleasures of chamber music and ensures space in a busy solo schedule to continue his associations with long-time colleagues and friends. 1997 saw Peter Frankl, Gyorgy Pauk and Ralph Kirshbaum celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their collaboration with a major series of recitals and masterclasses at the Wigmore Hall and concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Spain and Denmark. The summer of 2006 included collaborations with Lang Lang and Joshua Bell, Leif Ove Andsnes and Vadim Repin, and Yefim Bronfman and Ida Kavafian. In 2007 he works with Robert McDuffie and Lawrence Dutton, Joseph Swenson, Wu Han, and Peter Jablonski.
Bach also forms an important part of Ralph Kirshbaum's activities. 1993 opened with an enthusiastically received Bach cycle at the Wigmore Hall. Sydney followed in July with further cycles in Manchester and New York. He has performed the cycle in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cambridge as well as in Lyon and San Francisco. He has made a critically acclaimed recording of the solo Bach Suites for EMI/Virgin Classics.
Ralph Kirshbaum's many recordings have also included the 1983 Gramophone Magazine "Record of the Year" world premiere recording of Tippett's Triple Concerto for Philips, the Elgar and Walton Concertos for Chandos, the Ravel, Shostakovich and Brahms Trios for EMI and the Barber Concerto and Sonata for EMI/Virgin Classics. Also noteworthy is his recording of the Brahms Double and Beethoven Triple Concertos for BMG Classics with Pinchas Zukerman, John Browning and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Of his recording of the Walton Concerto, the composer wrote: "It is most heartening to hear a performance in which everything is just right - it is excellent and moving". His most recent release in November 2006 is his recording of the Shostakovich and Prokofiev Sonatas with the pianist Peter Jablonski, with whom he collaborated in a recent New York recital at the Frick Museum.
Ralph Kirshbaum is International Chair of Cello at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and gives annual master classes at The International Musician's Seminar in Prussia Cove, the London Masterclasses and throughout the world. He has served on the US President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities for the past 4 years.
The rare Montagnana Cello that Ralph Kirshbaum plays once belonged to the 19th century virtuoso, Piatti